Happy Mardi Gras!

On the Tuesday before Lent (commonly known as Maudi Gras), Christians celebrate with huge parties and feasts.  The forty days of Lent has always been treated as a time of fasting and denial of simple human pleasures.  However, I would prefer not to celebrate (not only due to having to go to work tomorrow morning) because I think Lent is not the depressing time expressed by so many.  As opposed to giving something up and using Lent as a diet kick start, I think Lent is the ideal time for deep reflection and prayer.  I'd rather not spend 40 days missing a cookie I gave up, I'd rather spend forty days talking to God and seeking a deeper understanding of His love and His truth.

So rather than celebrating Mardi Gras, I'm celebrating Shrove Tuesday.  Shrove is the past tense of the verb shrive which means to repent/confess.  The repentance and absolution of our sins is one of the main tenants of Christianity.  We all have our faults.  We all make mistakes.  We all are sinners.  Yet with Jesus Christ, we are granted absolution for our sins.  Turning to Jesus and asking for forgiveness, frees us from the earthly desires that tempt us on a regular basis and open our hearts to love that only He can give us.  Each Christian has an unique method of repentance, whether you speak to your priest or speak to God, asking for forgiveness is a truly intimate act.  Each week during the Episcopal church service, the congregation repents together speaking the words found in the Book of Common Prayer:

"Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against thee

in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done,

and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved thee with our whole heart;

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.

For the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ,

have mercy on us and forgive us;

that we may delight in thy will,

and walk in thy ways,

to the glory of thy Name. Amen"

I confess that my faith and trust in God has been shaky at best.  I confess that I have placed my human wants and needs above my relationship with God.  I confess that my vanity and independence have kept me from turning to Him even in my most darkest moments.  And I confess that I am worried about my ability to follow a 40 day devotional.  

But I know despite my sins (listed and unlisted), God loves me.  He will love me even if I don't finish the 40 day devotional.  However, I am making this commitment to myself and this commitment to my relationship with God.  So on this Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent, the day before my spiritual journey, I confess and open myself to the awesomeness of God and what I can learn in just 40 days.